What The NRA's Wayne Lapierre Gets Paid To Defend Guns

'The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.' (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

National Rifle Association chief Wayne Lapierre’s 2,200 word statement today on the massacre in Newtown, CT called for armed guards in schools and laid much of the blame for the shootings on media conglomerates and prosecutors unwilling to enforce existing laws.

Coming just a week after the shootings, it--unsurprisingly--put the organization on the front page of nearly every news web site in the world today, drawing endless ridicule from the left and inflaming the debate over guns in America once again.

If you're a transparency fan like me, you appreciate knowing what kind of skin public people have in the game during episodes like this. So what did the NRA pay Lapierre to say that the best way to stop school shootings is to have the government put every mentally ill person in the nation on a watch list and arm school personnel to defend schools like banks?

Just under a million bucks.

That’s according to the most recent NRA filings with the IRS.

The numbers are a bit out of date. The last filing of a Form 990 from the NRA was in 2010. Still, if you’re interested in the numbers behind America’s most powerful gun lobby, it makes for interesting reading.

The organization’s mission is simply stated, right at the top: “To protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.” To accomplish this, in 2010 the NRA reported that it had 781 full time employees, 125,000 volunteers and generated revenues of $227.8 million.

Where does all that come from? In 2010, $71 million came from contributions and grants, $100 million from membership fees and $46 million from other revenue sources, like ad sales ($20 million) royalties, rents and subscriptions.

In 2010 that wasn't enough to cover expenses. In total, they spent $243.5 million, leaving a $15 million shortfall, at least that year, which was cushioned by assets of $37.5 million.

Where did all the money go? About $33 million went to salaries and wages (not including the top brass), $28 million went to advertising and promotions. By far the biggest items were membership outreach: $57 million for membership communications, $24 million for printing and shipping, $16 million for educational programs. Just about $10 million went to the NRA’s lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action.

More than $12.7 million went to Akron-Ohio based InfoCision, a huge telemarketing company that lists a broad spectrum of blue chip non-profits as clients-- including Smile Train, the American Diabetes Association, Easter Seals and Unicef—as well as the College Republican National Committee and companies like Time Warner and AT&T.

As for salaries, fifty-six people in the organization earned more than $100,000 in 2010—and 10 made more than $250,000. Lapierre does not top the list. Kayne B. Robinson, the executive director of general operations does. He was paid just over $1 million. Lapierre was second, pulling in $970,000 in reportable and estimated comp.

Chris W. Cox, the executive director of the group’s lobbying efforts, was third. He earned just over $666,000.